Jim Higley – Author, Speaker, Vanilla Moment Fan

My Hakuna Matata Ta Ta

My teenage son asked me, while jumping out of the car this morning at school, if he could have some friends over tonight to hang out and watch a movie.

I love kids hanging out. Especially at our house.

“Absolutely!” I replied. “Any specific plans you need help with?”

“Yeah,” he said pulling out one of the earplugs from his headphones. “Can you make sure we have the “Lion King” at home? That’s what everyone wants to watch.”

“Wait, wait,” I started to yell back as he was halfway out the car. “Did you say Liooo…” I lost him. He was gone.

And I was left a little perplexed. I was excited to have a group of friends show up. But I was confused at their choice of movies. He might as well have said they were having a Kool-Aid stand.

But I was sure we had the “Lion King” at home. I had watched it at least 101 times through the years. Over-and-over. I regularly got goosebumps during “The Circle of Life” when the chorus of singers comes in- well, you know.

So, I went digging for our copy at home. And, I eventually found it in a box. Under the stairs. Bingo. There was only one problem: it was VHS. And, since our recent move, we don’t have a working VHS player. Zippo. Then I started thinking about the last time I watched a VHS movie. Which led me to wonder whether or not this particular 14-year-old son even remembered VHS himself.

But the concept of kids watching a favored movie from the past sounded so good to me. So an hour ago I jumped into the car to go over to our local movie rental store to pick it up. And guess what? It’s out of business. Kaput.

Doesn’t “hakuna matata” mean “there are no worries” in Swahili?

Last attempt, which I should have thought of first was our local library. Great idea, right? And, within ten minutes of arriving there, I found the jewel case containing the old familiar faces of Timon, Pumbaa, and Simba.

“Hakuna Matata,” I said to myself. What a wonderful phrase.

Wonderful until I arrived home to test the disc in our DVD player. You know, just to make sure.

And guess what?

It’s a CD. Not a DVD.

I think our Circle of Life has a major defect.

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